Chapter 57 : The Great Hero
The captured Madam Ma, after being tortured and interrogated, must have revealed all the important information of the Cold Demon Palace, that is, important information for the escort, such as the deployment of the guards and the structure of the city.
In other words, this led to the conclusion that the ones who had attacked the escort mission to kidnap Madam Ma were the ones who had led the assassination of the Heavenly Demon.
And Jang Baekseo guessed that their identity was the Hundred Rivers Association.
However, the reason why Jang Baekseo was able to make such a deduction now was based on the information about the Hundred Rivers Association that he had obtained before his regression and Jang Baekseo's own intuition.
Of course, there was no evidence to convince others or to explain it logically to others.
But in the world, there were various 'methods' to convince others even without being able to state the evidence.
That's why Jang Baekseo opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"It's difficult to explain in detail here. It's only in the realm of my deduction, and above all, the most important basis for this deduction is intricately entangled in the incident in Qingcheng…"
Although Jang Baekseo trailed off his words ambiguously, no one could urge him for the rest of the words.
It was transmitted just by the tone of his voice.
The tone that the basis for this deduction was deeply related to the previous incident in Qingcheng, and that stating that basis could have a negative impact on the honor or reputation of Qingcheng…
Of course…
'There's nothing like that, though~'
That's right. The words that Jang Baekseo had just said were all pure ten-tenths of empty nonsense.
He had just used the name value of Qingcheng to give credibility and at the same time, had completely blocked the listeners from urging him for the rest of the words.
This was commonly called 'appealing to authority'.
Perhaps thanks to the name value of Qingcheng, the party, who had readily accepted that the Hundred Rivers Association was behind this incident, was repeating the name with a serious expression.
They were probably reviewing their memories to see if there was any information or contact point about the Hundred Rivers Association.
But since they could not stay like that forever, Jang Baekseo asked Madam Ma to change the atmosphere.
"Madam Ma, the information that your husband asked you to deliver to the Chivalrous Alliance is…?"
Madam Ma took out a small book from the front of her chest.
"This is it."
Jang Baekseo, who had glanced at the book, shook his head.
"It's in code."
"Can I take a look?"
Thus, Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran also took a look, but they could not figure out the information contained in the book.
In the first place, what was recorded in the book was not writing. Since it was recorded in a series of figures that an ordinary person could not recognize, it was impossible to know unless one knew the rules of this code.
"So what are you two going to do now?"
"Huh? What do you mean by that, brother?"
"…What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to take Madam Ma to Henan."
At Jang Baekseo's words, Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran could not say anything.
'The trigger for the Righteous-Demonic War was ultimately the death of the Heavenly Demon! If I succeed in protecting Madam Ma, who is the first button of the assassination of that Heavenly Demon, I can change the future greatly.'
Jang Baekseo had already hardened his resolve.
Given Madam Ma's position, she could not ask for help from Emei or other prestigious Orthodox Faction sects.
Didn't even Hwa Mokyeon and Jang Yuran show such a fierce reaction just by knowing that Madam Ma was the daughter of the Cold Demon, not the Cold Demon herself?
Moreover, if it were the old foxes of the prestigious sects who were raising dozens of cunning snakes in their hearts, it was as clear as day that they would try to take advantage by holding Madam Ma hostage.
In fact, if you thought about it that way, going to the Chivalrous Alliance was not a very good idea either.
But…
'At least I can trust Shaolin.'
Shaolin!
It was a sect that existed at the peak of the Nine Great Sects, and at the same time, it was a place called the birthplace of the martial arts of the Central Plains martial world.
Although Jang Baekseo did not trust the prestigious sects of the world, including Emei, the reason why he was trying to take Madam Ma to the Chivalrous Alliance was only because he trusted Shaolin.
Even before his regression, Shaolin had vehemently opposed the Righteous-Demonic War itself.
After learning about the series of assassinations that had occurred in the Demonic Cult, they had even insisted that rather than fighting the Demonic Cult, they should ferret out those involved in the assassination of the Heavenly Demon and make them pay for their sins.
But the Orthodox Faction martial world, which had already suffered enormous damage from the invasion of the Demonic Cult, had ignored Shaolin's words, and the Chivalrous Alliance, which had been formed with Shaolin as its axis until then, had pushed Shaolin out and had eventually merged with the Righteous Heaven Alliance to become the Martial Alliance.
'At that point, the hand of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, no, the Hundred Rivers Association, must have already reached the Chivalrous Alliance…'
In the world before his regression, Shaolin had eventually chosen to close its doors, unable to accept a war with no proper justification.
But.
'In this era, the influence of Shaolin in the Chivalrous Alliance must still be enormous!'
And Jang Baekseo thought that they would at least not turn a blind eye to Madam Ma or try to use her.
Looking at Jang Baekseo, who had already hardened his resolve, Hwa Mokyeon said.
"…What is the reason why you are going this far, brother?"
Hwa Mokyeon could not understand it at all.
Through the previous attack, Jang Baekseo would have also known. That the organization aiming for Madam Ma was an extremely dangerous organization with the power to mobilize even a transcendent master. Moreover, according to Madam Ma's words, since they had even planted a spy in the Demonic Cult, he could not even easily guess the extent of their power and organizational strength.
What reason on earth was there to risk his own life to protect Madam Ma, who was being targeted by such a dangerous group, and who was not even a person of the Central Plains but a demonic person of the Demonic Path?
At Hwa Mokyeon's question, which contained such an inner thought, Jang Baekseo answered with a rather strange face.
"Do I need a reason?"
"Uh. Huh?"
"Well, isn't that right? A great hero is one who helps those in trouble and protects the innocent and weak from the violent and strong, isn't he?"
Great hero.
From Jang Baekseo's perspective, it was just an excuse he had come up with, thinking 'whatever happens, happens', since he could not explain about his regression.
But those words struck a chord in Hwa Mokyeon's heart.
Great hero. It was a word that countless people said and also claimed to be.
But they all knew. How many people in the current Central Plains martial world could be called a true great hero? In a rotten martial world that pursued money over 'righteousness' and self-preservation over 'chivalry', the word 'great hero' had at some point become nothing more or less than a newfound empty word.
No, he had thought it had become so.
But Hwa Mokyeon realized that that was wrong.
Because right in front of his eyes, there was a fool who was trying to actually practice the words 'great hero', 'righteousness', and 'chivalry', which were stuck in an old and outdated box.
Hwa Mokyeon. He was a second-generation disciple of Huashan.
How had he, a promising talent of Huashan who had been recognized for his talent at a young age, left Huashan and been doing ronin work in Sichuan?
It was because he had run away.
From what?
From reality.
Hwa Mokyeon had run away from the increasingly severe factional strife within Huashan and from Huashan, which was engaged in secular disputes, putting chivalry and righteousness on the back burner.
After running and running, he had come this far.
And only after coming this far had Hwa Mokyeon met a person with true righteousness and chivalry.
Funnily enough, that person was a boy who was much younger than him, and yet his martial arts level was on par with his own. A truly absurd and ridiculous boy.
But Hwa Mokyeon wanted to bet on this boy's chivalry.
"A great hero, huh… good, a great hero. It might be an eyesore now, but can I also become that great hero with you, brother?"
"Does that mean…"
"Of course it means I'll be with you!"
"Young Master Hwa!"
"I told you to call me big brother~!"
There was a person who was frowning at the sight of the hot friendship of the men…
"…"
"Then what do you plan to do, Young Lady Jang?"
At Hwa Mokyeon's question, who had chosen to be with Jang Baekseo, Jang Yuran held her head with one hand.
"…Although I said that earlier, if the escort agency goes bankrupt when my father wakes up from his sickbed, I think he'll collapse again… so I have no choice but to carry out the request I've taken on as the daughter of the head of the Mysterious Tiger Escort Agency until the end."
"Young Lady Jang!"
Since it had been decided, it was now time to discuss the future.
"We have to avoid Chongqing for now…"
"Since they found out that we had changed the escort route and chased us, they must have already made arrangements on the road to Chongqing…"
Even if that were not the case, Chongqing was a province located right next to Hubei, where the Righteous Heaven Alliance was. It was practically the front yard of the Righteous Heaven Alliance, so it would be no different from a front yard for the Hundred Rivers Association, which was using the Righteous Heaven Alliance as a host.
'Above all, it's a pity that I don't know the extent of the Hundred Rivers Association's influence on the Righteous Heaven Alliance.'
Before his regression, the power of the Hundred Rivers Association in the Righteous-Demonic War was absolute.
After the Righteous-Demonic War had broken out, the antipathy towards the Demonic Path had been maximized, and accordingly, as the Hundred River, that is, the first principle, had become rampant, the Hundred Rivers Association had rapidly expanded its power.
Jang Baekseo, who had been the Sword Demon before his regression, had grasped this fact and the influence of the Hundred Rivers Association that had grown during the Righteous-Demonic War, but he had no way of knowing the extent of the Hundred Rivers Association's influence at this point in time.
'At least it's certain that it's less than half of what it was in the past.'
If the opponent had been the Hundred Rivers Association of before his regression, they would have sent at least a dozen transcendent masters in the first attack.
To that extent, in the world before his regression, the Hundred Rivers Association had been expanding its power widely, and many prestigious masters of the Orthodox Faction had been affiliated with the Hundred Rivers Association.
But even so, he could not underestimate the current Hundred Rivers Association.
That's why they had to get out of Sichuan as soon as possible.
The party, after a brief meeting, decided to head for Guizhou for now.
The party, which had decided on a direction, began to move quickly.
Since each and every one of them was a master of martial arts, their movement speed was naturally fast.
They avoided the large main roads as much as possible and moved along mountain paths or small roads. And fortunately, they were able to enter Guizhou, passing through Yibin and Hongmen without any more attacks.
Although it had taken a considerable amount of time as they had only taken mountain paths and small roads, Jang Baekseo's party was able to arrive in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou, in two weeks.
Jang Baekseo, who had arrived in Guiyang, first let the party rest at an inn and was wandering around, looking for the Black Dot of Guiyang.
Thanks to his direct participation in the Sichuan Black Dot sweeping operation, Jang Baekseo knew the location of the Black Dots in Sichuan clearly, but since it was his first time in Guizhou, he of course did not know the location of the Black Dot.
The good thing was.
'I have this.'
The thing that Jang Baekseo took out from his chest was a hero's bandana with a geometric pattern embroidered on it.
Jang Baekseo tied it on his head and walked around the main street of Guiyang.
This hero's bandana was something he had received from the Black Dot in the village below Qingcheng, and to put it simply, it was a signal.
It was a sign that the person wearing this hero's bandana was a customer who wanted to trade with the Black Dot. The people of the Black Dot, who were always waiting on the streets, would approach the person wearing this hero's bandana first.
As expected…
"I'm a little late. Have you been waiting long?"
A man, whose face he had never seen before, approached Jang Baekseo, acting as if he knew him.
"No, you're right on time."
Jang Baekseo, who was playing along, said the promised words.
"Since this is my first time here, I don't know a place where the black flower wine is delicious. Can you tell me, big brother?"
As he said the correct code, the man nodded his head greatly and said.
"Of course~! This big brother knows that well, so just follow me!"
Saying so, the man led Jang Baekseo and went deeper and deeper into the alley.
And a dead-end alley with no sign of people.
Creak!
Just like the Black Dot in Sichuan that he had gone to before, the wall of the alley, which he had thought would have nothing, turned.
Jang Baekseo and the man who had led him went inside without any conversation.
"My, a precious guest has come, hasn't he?"
"…You seem to know me…"
"Yes, that's because you're the one who changed the landscape of our Black Dot, right?"
"…"
"Oh, you didn't know, did you? The master of the Black Dot has changed. Hongseong, no, you would know if I said Jeokhong, right?"
"!?"
'Did that woman hit the jackpot in the meantime!?'
Jang Baekseo was flustered by the unexpected action of an unexpected person.
(End of Chapter)